Woman dies days after shooting in South Austin

A West Side woman died three days after a gunman shot her in the head in front of her home in the South Austin neighborhood.

Blanca C. Miranda, 29, was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Stroger Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Miranda was one of two people shot during an attack Friday afternoon in the 5100 block of West Thomas Street, authorities said. Authorities said Miranda and an older man were standing in front of a building on Thomas Street when the gunman’s vehicle pulled up and he briefly chatted with the male victim.

The gunman drove off, but returned a few moments later, approaching on foot through an alley armed with a handgun, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a police spokeswoman.

Seeing the gunman approach, the male victim grabbed the man trying to thwart the attack, but was unable to stop him from shooting Miranda in the head and wounding him in the left shoulder, Tannehill said.

Miranda was taken to Stroger after the shooting, while the male victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment, police said. Police didn’t offer a motive for the shooting.

Members of Miranda’s family couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. No arrests had been made in the slaying, police said.